Stealth Falcon
Stealth Falcon is a threat group that has conducted targeted spyware attacks against Emirati journalists, activists, and dissidents since at least 2012. Circumstantial evidence suggests there could be a link between this group and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government, but that has not been confirmed. [1]
Techniques Used
| Domain | ID | Name | Use | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | T1071 | .001 | Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols |
Stealth Falcon malware communicates with its C2 server via HTTPS.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1059 | Command and Scripting Interpreter |
Stealth Falcon malware uses WMI to script data collection and command execution on the victim.[1] |
|
| .001 | PowerShell |
Stealth Falcon malware uses PowerShell commands to perform various functions, including gathering system information via WMI and executing commands from its C2 server.[1] |
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| Enterprise | T1555 | Credentials from Password Stores |
Stealth Falcon malware gathers passwords from multiple sources, including Windows Credential Vault and Outlook.[1] |
|
| .003 | Credentials from Web Browsers |
Stealth Falcon malware gathers passwords from multiple sources, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome.[1] |
||
| .004 | Windows Credential Manager |
Stealth Falcon malware gathers passwords from the Windows Credential Vault.[1] |
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| Enterprise | T1005 | Data from Local System |
Stealth Falcon malware gathers data from the local victim system.[1] |
|
| Enterprise | T1573 | .001 | Encrypted Channel: Symmetric Cryptography |
Stealth Falcon malware encrypts C2 traffic using RC4 with a hard-coded key.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1041 | Exfiltration Over C2 Channel |
After data is collected by Stealth Falcon malware, it is exfiltrated over the existing C2 channel.[1] |
|
| Enterprise | T1057 | Process Discovery |
Stealth Falcon malware gathers a list of running processes.[1] |
|
| Enterprise | T1012 | Query Registry |
Stealth Falcon malware attempts to determine the installed version of .NET by querying the Registry.[1] |
|
| Enterprise | T1053 | .005 | Scheduled Task/Job: Scheduled Task |
Stealth Falcon malware creates a scheduled task entitled "IE Web Cache" to execute a malicious file hourly.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1082 | System Information Discovery |
Stealth Falcon malware gathers system information via WMI, including the system directory, build number, serial number, version, manufacturer, model, and total physical memory.[1] |
|
| Enterprise | T1016 | System Network Configuration Discovery |
Stealth Falcon malware gathers the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table from the victim.[1] |
|
| Enterprise | T1033 | System Owner/User Discovery |
Stealth Falcon malware gathers the registered user and primary owner name via WMI.[1] |
|
| Enterprise | T1047 | Windows Management Instrumentation |
Stealth Falcon malware gathers system information via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).[1] |
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